 Learning Through Landscapes
Case Study
Number of Users: 40+
What They Do
Learning through Landscapes helps schools and early years settings make the most of their outdoor spaces for play and learning.
The organisation consists of a Head Office in Winchester and branch offices around the country with many remote working staff.
How It Began
We were originally called in to look at an ageing IT system using VPN links to access data across a wide area network. Our initial consultation covered their requirements now and in the future, what levels of support they required and where they wanted to access the data from.
What We Suggested and Implemented
From these discussions we decided that Hosted Desktops would best suit their needs, with its fixed monthly costs, no Capital Expenditure and flexibility. We then proceeded to set-up test servers to ensure that their existing databases would work on Workplacelive, along with their accounts package - Sage Line 200. After this proved successful, we implemented the migration over a weekend, moving their data and emails across onto the system ready for Monday morning.
Bespoke Solutions
We also provided a separated Network Attached Storage box to provide a large data area for their photographs and archive data. This is then periodically backed up as opposed to the full backup completed on Workplacelive.
We now have regular meetings with Learning Through Landscapes to ensure that they stay up to date with the latest technological innovations and that they get the best possible value from their IT.
Rowena Burt - I.T. Officer at Learning Through Landscapes says:
"We knew about Workplacelive from a member of staff who had worked with them in the past, and following a meeting with their Managing Director, Paul Sturges, we decided in April 2008 to move to the Workplacelive system. We shut down our existing service on the Friday Morning, and by Monday morning we had access to all our e-mail and documents, soon followed by our Databases and bespoke software. We were given clear, concise advice throughout, and the team were always happy to discuss our needs.
Since moving over to the service, we’ve found the Support staff helpful and friendly. Calls into the Helpdesk are always answered promptly – even before 9:00am, and most issues we raise are resolved within a few hours.
Workplacelive is very easy to use. We can now share documents, images and our databases with all our offices. This means that everyone can share the contacts they have with the schools we work with. We’ve also found that Workplacelive is more reliable than our previous, internal network which was coming to the end of its life. It was difficult for the other offices to access our network on a regular basis; being able to share everything across the organisation has been a huge advantage.
Moving to Workplacelive has made a huge difference in our ability to share information easily throughout the whole organisation, it has also allowed staff to work from home and still be able to access to the network and their email, and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to others!"
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